Best Nontoxic Teapot

Hi. I am new to your forum and would like to get my son a teapot for Christmas. I see a lot of teapots, but many of them can't be used on the stove to heat water. Can anyone give me some ideas for nontoxic teapots that CAN be used on the stove? Many thanks, Susan

The kettle versions that are not lined can be used to heat water on a non gas stove, however they recommend NOT brewing tea in them.

Then there are the lined versions of these that should never be placed on a stove of any kind ... but they are made for brewing. But they have an enamel liner that can flake over time ... thus voiding the non toxic requirement! Most of us agree they are not great for brewing anyway. I find they make great paper weights!

smfree wrote:Hi. I am new to your forum and would like to get my son a teapot for Christmas. I see a lot of teapots, but many of them can't be used on the stove to heat water. Can anyone give me some ideas for nontoxic teapots that CAN be used on the stove? Many thanks, Susan

I feel like these guys are getting a bit esoteric for you. My recommendation would be to get a simple kettle from Target or the equivalent (either electric or stove top) for him to boil the water, and then a separate teapot for actually brewing tea. Basically, boiling and brewing are two different tasks that require two different tools.

By the way, don't get him too big of a teapot, it should be 16oz at the very largest.

I'm big on tetsubin for stove use, but don't confuse a tetsubin (kettle for stove use) with a teapot (for table use only). Using a cast iron teapot on a stove is not recommended as the enamel (or in some cases urushi) will separate over time. I don't think that anyone enjoys the taste of enamel in their tea.

Not sure what your budget is, but a new tetsubin can set you back three or four hundred dollars for a good one. Also, you may have problems finding one in time for the holidays as they are usually sold by the order. I waited three months for mine from Japan.

Another option, though, might be a Purion kettle although I am not quite familiar with them. Teachatters, feel free to chime in on this one.

The only all-in-one option that comes to mind would be a glass kettle like this http://tinyurl.com/cpucpspBut even then you still need to get an induction plate thing for it. Might as well just go with a separate kettle and pot.

smfree wrote:Hi. I am new to your forum and would like to get my son a teapot for Christmas. I see a lot of teapots, but many of them can't be used on the stove to heat water. Can anyone give me some ideas for nontoxic teapots that CAN be used on the stove? Many thanks, Susan

I feel like these guys are getting a bit esoteric for you. My recommendation would be to get a simple kettle from Target or the equivalent (either electric or stove top) for him to boil the water, and then a separate teapot for actually brewing tea. Basically, boiling and brewing are two different tasks that require two different tools.

By the way, don't get him too big of a teapot, it should be 16oz at the very largest.

This is where I was "going" on the low $50 end of things ... hopefully Susan will let us know the budget so we can more clearly offer suggestions.

I guess not knowing how your son likes to brew tea, I will stick towards safer suggestions. If he likes large pots of tea, that he drinks from for hours. Look into what is called a "Brown Betty" and go with a similar pot.

If he brews his tea a little stronger and gets many infusions out of it, again not quite exactly knowing his tastes, it is fairly safe to go with a 120ml to 260ml ( maybe as high as 300ml) porcelain teapot, or a glass teapot.

Those are if you want teapots. For kettles as most people have been hinting at, it is kind of a huge can of worms. Though honestly as most have said it best that the brewing vessel and heating vessel are not the same, and if he has access to a stove, I have realized most of the budget kettles in your all purpose stores ( like meijer, k-mart, target, etc.) get the job done, even if they aren't the most stylish. Heck I have a stainless steel one I picked up for 15 or so dollars at Home Goods that has served me well for quite a few years now with no issues.

I realize that this is a bit of an expensive and maybe even somewhat "commercial" of an option but when I was first started getting into tea and I drank large western style cups, this device was like a lifesaver for me as it can be used to either boil water separately to any temperature for different teas OR it could be used to brew tea with exact time and temperature parameters of your choosing based on the specific category or type of tea. The best part about it is that the tea gets pulled out of the correct temperature water for itself (of your choosing) automatically by an internal magnetic mechanism that pulls the futuristic looking strainer basket (containing the tea leaves) up and out of the radius of water submersion when the timer that you set (to any given time you want or need) goes off. This represents a possible science-based approach to strive to achieve a "perfect" cup of tea (if that were possible with time and temperature parameters alone as for me science is not nearly enough because tea is more spiritual for me than that and also requires other factors such as mood, feeling, awareness, quietude, etc.). This of course was long before I started brewing Kung-Fu Cha daily and I use many other methods to boil my water now but still feel as though this could quite possibly be perfect for what the OP is looking for!